US President Donald Trump announced on 23/7 that Chinese President Xi Jinping would visit the US on 24/9. The leaders plan to continue discussions on artificial intelligence (ai), a topic first addressed during Trump's visit to Beijing.

During a state visit to China in May, President Trump held discussions with President Xi on various matters. However, talks did not yield a breakthrough regarding the sale of Nvidia's advanced ai h200 chips to China, despite CEO Jensen Huang joining Trump's delegation at the last minute.

President Trump made the announcement during a speech at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where he discussed his administration's initiatives to develop more data centers supporting ai.

President Trump emphasized the critical importance of ai, calling it "perhaps the greatest thing anyone has ever witnessed." He stated that Washington must surpass Beijing in the competition for technological dominance, adding, "whoever wins that race will be considered to have won the overall victory."

US President Donald Trump (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to Zhongnanhai in Beijing on 15/5. *AP*

Further underscoring the visit's preparations, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 22/7. The two diplomats held "very positive" discussions on the sidelines of a conference in Manila, Philippines, focusing on arrangements for President Xi's trip to Washington.

Following his departure from Beijing in May, President Trump had informed reporters aboard Air Force One that he anticipated meeting with President Xi three additional times this year.

These anticipated meetings include an invitation from President Xi for Trump to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, slated for November in Shenzhen. Additionally, President Xi expressed interest in participating in the G20 summit in Miami in December, according to President Trump.

Ngoc Anh (Reuters, AP)